@ Author
Ok. read your second post.
In emerging scenarios we say the main concern is about ALIMONY so here you go first (based on below how and how much alimony is / can be granted is what I mean) hand gyan on Alimony part;
1. Alimony is generally not granted by the court to the seeking party if the latter is already receiving financial support, during the time of the divorce. Here you already say that she is working so why alimony to a working metro wife -she is not disabled bodied - fight it and bingo she will not get any alimony !!!!
2. Duration of marriage of spouse before a Court is the second assumption. The quantum and duration of alimony depends on how long the couple had been married before filing for divorce. Spouses who have been married for more than ten years, for instance, may be granted lifelong alimony. Here in your male friends case they have been married from May 2011 till the Application for Alimony is filed that is the time period Judge will consider for granting / not granting alimony based on adduced facts by respective parties when they try to cross that bridge !
3. Age of the recipient (here worry before you two is a metro wife!). So in that case scenario it also smells to me that the female spouse seems to be younger and in those cases often the alimony granted to a younger spouse is for a shorter tenure, if the Court thinks that the recipient can eventually become financially sound, with career advancement. Here the case smells of younger couple so your male friends spouse will get lesser is one of the pre-assumptions I am placing before the Board.
4. Financial position of either spouse is next consideration while thinking on alimony. Here what Court assumes is that if the divorce takes place between two parties with unequal resources, the higher-earning spouse is generally asked to pay a substantial amount as alimony, in order to equalize the financial condition of the spouses. Similarly, a spouse with very profitable financial prospects is usually asked to cough up the alimony amount which has been the trend till date here in India. Here in emerging scenarios if I am given the brief to put before the Court then I will put papers on behalf of husband for seeking alimony from his metro wife due to wife working and husband being un-employed!.
5. Health of spouse is next line of thinking for a Court. If the seeker is in poor health, the court usually orders the other spouse to pay a high alimony to take care of the former’s healthcare expenses. However in emerging brief the situation seems not like this as anyhow younger female spouse does not need medicare as she is young and hale and hearty so there she gets a knock-out while calculation are being done in courts mind!
6. Respective marriage laws. The terms and conditions of alimony, also vary from one personal law to another. Thus, whether and how much alimony the seeker will be granted, will depend upon the laws according to which he/she got married. We donot know the religion of the spouse in presented brief and under which Marriage Ceremonies they got married other than your name ID smells to be of Hindu but that being not material here, hence, check their marriage ceremony and bingo one can know which Marriage Law will now apply.
7. Maintenance by public body is also allowed as per citations from various State’s HC’s in terms of alimony. In exceptional conditions, the court can direct that the seeker be paid maintenance after divorce, by a public body. Yes, there have been citated cases from various State’s HC’s where such maintenance were awarded but this is not case in hand so I suggest you not to jump up J.
8. Law on alimony in perspective. While in the Western countries, alimony is an obligation ordered by the court to the financially stronger spouse, in India it is not yet an absolute right of the seeker. Rather the awarding of alimony, its amount and duration are determined by the financial position and family circumstances of the respective spouses. Check yourself where your this male friend and his wife stands socially keeping 6 DAYS of their marriage cohabitation as primary scope in mind read with who among them files first THE PAPERS before Court.
Apart from my previous reply read with this reply I would suggest him to become pro-active in current situation since you are his major support and how it could be done is stated below i.e.
- do recorded visit of his side of elders to HER home to bring her back which is what Court expects a missing in matrimony wife won over by left behind husband to act immediately as legally and social eyes point of view they are still HUSBAND and WIFE is it not so !
- if above social opportunities shows failure then send Legal Notice prepared by an advocate for reconciliation / restitution of conjugal rights from husband side to his wife.
- further if above two shows utter failure on part of wife to react / show some symptoms of counter cases and response positively and or re-join matrimonial home then by that time May 2012 will approach and then he should file for Divorce under Cruelty and here ground being wife leaving home without consent + wife not responding to social / legal notice for restitution of a husband's conjugal rights. Here it is ir-respective if he can perform marital obligations or not as the first two efforts (social and semi -legal) read with witness of husbands side with proof affidavit to seek divorce.
Above are ideal ways to get it over with but I repeat BUT is that so in today’s gender biased Laws of the land :-)
To above the answer lies in reading last 150 thread titles posted in LCI quickly and you will know how much waters your this male friend is right now in and or may get legally raped soon if he does not act first.
Yes I am using the word First and who should act first was your first question before us but did not reply earlier as not much hints of the facts were there in your first message post but with your second brief reply better clarity of the situation emerged hence I say he should act first socially followed by semi - legally and come May 2012 he will know what she and her sides are upto and it becomes about time to file for divorce under cruelty and hence I suggest to take first movers advantage with material evidence as hinted above.
To do / some of the above the journey starts with in-chamber meeting a husband friendly advocate practicing in family court of Jurisdiction where husband lives followed by more or less above guidance forthcoming are some of my views.
